Can-Am 1979
It was Jackie Ickx's turn in the Haas Racing Lola T333CS and again the title easily fell to the Chicago team. Keke Rosberg joined Elliot Forbes-Robinson in the revamped Spyders and took eight pole positions but poor reliability and several accidents meant he only won two races. Bobby Rahal had half a season in the revised Prophet and won at Laguna Seca and took pole at Trois-Rivières. The other race was won by Alan Jones at Mid-Ohio, standing in for Ickx in the Haas car. There was certainly no lack of world-class driving talent in Can-Am by 1979!
Al Holbert was driving the Hogan team's newly-constructed HR-001 but this was neither quite quick enough nor reliable enough. Geoff Lees took over the pair of VDS Lola T333s and a modified version of one of these was enough for three podium finishes.
The SCCA had a separate championship for 2-litre cars in 1979, the first time such a separation appears in official records; won by Tim Evans in his seven-year-old Lola T290.
The races
06 May 1979 > Road Atlanta
19 May 1979 > Charlotte Motor Speedway
03 Jun 1979 > Mosport Park
10 Jun 1979 > Mid-Ohio
08 Jul 1979 > Watkins Glen
22 Jul 1979 > Road America
19 Aug 1979 > Brainerd
02 Sep 1979 > Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières
14 Oct 1979 > Laguna Seca
28 Oct 1979 > Riverside
1979 Can-Am Championship table
| 1 | Jacky Ickx | Lola T333CS | 51 pts | 5 wins |
| 2 | Elliot Forbes-Robinson | Spyder NF-11 | 45 pts | 1 win |
| 3 | Geoff Lees | Lola | 32 pts | |
| 4 | Keke Rosberg | Spyder NF-11 | 29 pts | 2 wins |
| 5 | Bobby Rahal | Prophet | 25 pts | 1 win |
| 6 | Alan Jones | Lola T333CS | 9 pts | 1 win |
| 7 | Al Holbert | HR-001 | 9 pts | |
| 8 | Vern Schuppan | Elfin | 6 pts | |
| 9 | John Morton | Lola T333 | 6 pts | |
| 10 | Rocky Moran | Lola T333CS | 6 pts |